"But that isn't mine. That--that one isn't unfolded--I mean, it hasn't been unfolded. You can see that by its condition. Mine, I read through, and refolded it untidily, even inside out." "Fine talk!" said Timken, with a slight sneer. "But it doesn't get you anywhere. That New York paper, that cigarette end, and that check stub seem to me to need pretty strict accounting for. Your explanations are glib, but a little thin. I don't see how you got out of the room, or Miss Clyde either; but that consideration would apply equally to any other intruder. And we have no other direction in which to look for the person who robbed Mrs. Pell." "Leave Miss Clyde's name out," said Bannard, shortly. "If you want to suspect me, go ahead, but it's too absurd to fasten it on a woman." "Perhaps you both know more than you've told----" "I don't!" declared Iris, her eyes snapping at the implication. "I was angry at my aunt. I've told you the truth about that, but I didn't kill her. Nor did her nephew. Because we are her probable heirs does not mean that we're her murderers!" "Your protestation doesn't carry much weight," said Timken, coldly. "We're after proofs, and we'll get them yet. Mr. Bowen, will you take the stand?" The rector somewhat ponderously acquiesced, and the coroner put some questions to him, which like the preceding queries brought little new light on the mystery. But one statement roused a slight wave of suspicion toward Iris Clyde. This was the assertion that Mrs. Pell had said she would call her lawyer to her the next day, to change her will. "With what intent?" asked Timken. "She promised that she would have all her jewels set into a chalice, and present it to me for my church." "Oh, she didn't mean that, Mr. Bowen," Iris exclaimed. "Why didn't she? She said it, and I have no reason to think she was not sincere." "She may have meant it when she said it," put in Lawyer Chapin, "but she was likely to change her mind before she changed her will." "That's mere supposition on your part," objected Mr. Bowen. "But I know my late client better than you do. She changed her will frequently, but her fortune was always left to her relatives, not to any institution or charity." "She said that she had never thought of it before," Mr. Bowen related, "but that she considered it a fine idea." "Oh, then you proposed it?" said Timken. "Yes, I did," replied the clergyman, "I suggested it half jestingly, but when Mrs. Pell acquiesced with evident gladness, I certainly hoped she would put at least part of her fortune into such a good cause." "You heard this discussion, Miss Clyde?" asked the coroner. "Of course I did; it occurred at the dinner table." "And were you not afraid your aunt would make good her promise?" "She didn't really promise----" "Afraid then that she would carry out the minister's suggestion." "I didn't really think much about it. If you mean, did I kill her to prevent such a possibility, I answer I certainly did not!"